Women Write to Us (WIDF, 1955): Indonesia after the World Congress of Mothers

=== [PDF page 1] === Women write to us BULGARIA The women of Bulgaria, who followed the work of the Congr of Mothers with great interest, invited delegates from India, Australia, Brazil and Argentina to their country and welcomed them as very dear friends. The women and mothers of the town of Plovdiv will never forget the meeting with their guests. The mother of the national heroine of Bulgaria, Yordanka Chankova, who died in the struggle against fascism, embraced the representative of faraway India. Tears filled the eyes of the two women. They uttered the words that mean so much to every woman and mother ‘Peace and friendship. During the visit to the village of Polikraichte, the mother of a partisan killed during the war gave the foreign guests an embroidered cloth in memory of her son, according to the ancient Bulgarian custom. Moved by this gesture, Adelita Kusnir from Argentina embraced her and declared, “So that there may not be any more mothers like you, who lament the death of a son kiNed in battle, we all give you our hands today. This was the reason we met at the World Congress of Mothers and swore never to allow another war.” For all the Bulgarian women who had the opportunity to see and talk with these friends, the experience will be unforgettable. FRANCE The sanguinary events which have been taking place since the middle of July in North Africa and which have already cost thousands of lives, have plunged many French families into anxiety Friendships are welded: Delegates from India, Australia, Brazil and Argentina welcomed by women of Bulgaria. Mothers, wives and fiancees are deeply disturbed by the ‘decrees on mobilization which appeared in the “Journal Officiel” on August 24th and 30th. The young men who were discharged at the beginning of the year have been recalled, those due for discharge have been kept under arms, while non-commissioned officers and reserve officers are being called up no matter what the circumstances. Thousands of young men doing their national service are used in military operations, and announcements of deaths are arriving every day in France. It makes women’s hearts bleed, and it makes them revolt. Many actions are already developing: A national petition issued by the Union of French Women is covered with signatures. It will be sent to the government In the ninth district of Paris women whose sons are either being held or have been called up went to the Presidium of the Council From Carvin, near Calais, another delegation, which was supported by 800 people, expressed to the Presidium of the Council the desire of the mothers from Carvin for the cessation of repression in Algeria and Morocco. In the delegation were a mother of eleven children whose nephew, son of a man executed by the nazis, had just gone off to fight; a mother of five children, whose son left on June 17th; a mother of three children, one of whom is in Morocco and another about to be called up; the widow of a miner who had died of silicosis, mother of fifteen children, one of whom is in North Africa, a second just called up, and a third about to start his military service. The delegates in a street of Sofia, This very brief information show that French mothers are acting and are planning to increas: widen their actions to obtain the repeal of the mobili zation decrees, so@hat French and Algerian women need no longer weep for their children and INDONESIA Many groups of women, well-known personalitic and representatives of press and radio gave a warm welcome to the delegates when they arrived at the airport. Mm. Surjadarma, who was deeply touched, wa surrounded by press correspondents. She told them her opinion on the World Congress of Mothers and ¢ pressed her satisfaction with it. Besides the many newspapers which featured statements by the delegate and gave space to the decisions made at the Congres the radio also broadcast Congress information several times, and relayed Mme. Surjadarma’s speech at the Congress. The programme of the Indonesian Women's Mo\ ment includes a plan to publish interviews with the delegates in the press Several meetings are to be held with the families o. delegates, and with small groups; public meetings will bring together various organizations which supported the Congress Also, the delegates will speak at a press conference organized at Djakar and at several assemblies and conferences which will take place there and in other regions. INDIA A terrible calamity has befallen the people in state, the Uttar Pradesh. Floods have exceeded previous records and have devastated six million ae of land, affecting over eight million people Mau, a small town in the Azamgarh district, was one of the victims of these floods. But the people, two thirds of whom are weavers, fought back the danget under the leadership of the President of the Weavers Trade Union. They kept watch day and night, patrolled the banks and rescued people The most glorious part was’ played by the women anc children in saving the town and the larger hamlets around The people demolished the cottages on the outskirts of town so as to form a barricade. But the rains washed away the earth. Then the women and children came to the rescue; they collected mats, carpets, clothes, rags and almost everything they could lay their hands on and heaped them on the dyke. Thus the dyke held and Mau was saved The rescued people are now in camps and are in great need of clothes, soap, medicines, etc. We of the Federation have already sent milk powder, soap and clothing. We hope soon to send a contingent of doctors vith some medicines to that area. Any help is welcome at such a time, and to know that our sisters in far-off lands are with us will be a very heartening thought to our women and children You could write to Sri. Jharkhande Rai, President, People’s Relief Committee, Kisan Office, Balal Ghat Road, Azamgarh, U.P. directly or to our Federation Office at New Delhi National Federation of Indian Women, 10 B, Asaf Ali Road, Kamla Market, New Delhi, India Hajrah Begum ARGENTINA The delegates came back enthusiastic about the Congress, and those who went on to Rumania were enchanted by the reception they were given and carried away by all they had seen. They brought back a whole exhibition of handwork presented by the women Rumania to the Union of Argentine Women. Later they appointed a special commission to prepare an exhibition in the capital as well as in several provincial cities. The handwork will be exhibited along with photos showing the life of women and children and the building up of the country. The delegates will give talks describing all that has been done for women and children. And this is still very little in comparison with the reception they were given On the subject of the journal of the Union of Argentine Women, “Our Women” (Nuestras Mujeres), which was publishing fifteen thousand copies per issue in April, the letter says “20,000 copies of the last number of ‘Nuestras Mujeres’ were sold, 5,000 on news-stands. For the next number we will print 25,000 copies, because the door-to-door sales are having such extraordinary success. For eximple, recently, 200 copies were sold in a single day by this method in Avellaneda, forty at the gates of a meat refrigeration plant. Even women who do not belong to our organization ask for copies to sell. The number of our co-workers is growing; we are trying to improve the presentation of the magazine by printing it in and increasing the number of pages. We are all 1 by this success, which shows the devotion colour very please< of the women to the only women’s magazine which tells the truth.” LD 21 === [PDF page 2] === Women write to us BULGARIA The women of Bulgaria, who followed the work of the Congr of Mothers with great interest, invited delegates from India, Australia, Brazil and Argentina to their country and welcomed them as very dear friends. The women and mothers of the town of Plovdiv will never forget the meeting with their guests. The mother of the national heroine of Bulgaria, Yordanka Chankova, who died in the struggle against fascism, embraced the representative of faraway India. Tears filled the eyes of the two women. They uttered the words that mean so much to every woman and mother ‘Peace and friendship. During the visit to the village of Polikraichte, the mother of a partisan killed during the war gave the foreign guests an embroidered cloth in memory of her son, according to the ancient Bulgarian custom. Moved by this gesture, Adelita Kusnir from Argentina embraced her and declared, “So that there may not be any more mothers like you, who lament the death of a son kiNed in battle, we all give you our hands today. This was the reason we met at the World Congress of Mothers and swore never to allow another war.” For all the Bulgarian women who had the opportunity to see and talk with these friends, the experience will be unforgettable. FRANCE The sanguinary events which have been taking place since the middle of July in North Africa and which have already cost thousands of lives, have plunged many French families into anxiety Friendships are welded: Delegates from India, Australia, Brazil and Argentina welcomed by women of Bulgaria. Mothers, wives and fiancees are deeply disturbed by the ‘decrees on mobilization which appeared in the “Journal Officiel” on August 24th and 30th. The young men who were discharged at the beginning of the year have been recalled, those due for discharge have been kept under arms, while non-commissioned officers and reserve officers are being called up no matter what the circumstances. Thousands of young men doing their national service are used in military operations, and announcements of deaths are arriving every day in France. It makes women’s hearts bleed, and it makes them revolt. Many actions are already developing: A national petition issued by the Union of French Women is covered with signatures. It will be sent to the government In the ninth district of Paris women whose sons are either being held or have been called up went to the Presidium of the Council From Carvin, near Calais, another delegation, which was supported by 800 people, expressed to the Presidium of the Council the desire of the mothers from Carvin for the cessation of repression in Algeria and Morocco. In the delegation were a mother of eleven children whose nephew, son of a man executed by the nazis, had just gone off to fight; a mother of five children, whose son left on June 17th; a mother of three children, one of whom is in Morocco and another about to be called up; the widow of a miner who had died of silicosis, mother of fifteen children, one of whom is in North Africa, a second just called up, and a third about to start his military service. The delegates in a street of Sofia, This very brief information show that French mothers are acting and are planning to increas: widen their actions to obtain the repeal of the mobili zation decrees, so@hat French and Algerian women need no longer weep for their children and INDONESIA Many groups of women, well-known personalitic and representatives of press and radio gave a warm welcome to the delegates when they arrived at the airport. Mm. Surjadarma, who was deeply touched, wa surrounded by press correspondents. She told them her opinion on the World Congress of Mothers and ¢ pressed her satisfaction with it. Besides the many newspapers which featured statements by the delegate and gave space to the decisions made at the Congres the radio also broadcast Congress information several times, and relayed Mme. Surjadarma’s speech at the Congress. The programme of the Indonesian Women's Mo\ ment includes a plan to publish interviews with the delegates in the press Several meetings are to be held with the families o. delegates, and with small groups; public meetings will bring together various organizations which supported the Congress Also, the delegates will speak at a press conference organized at Djakar and at several assemblies and conferences which will take place there and in other regions. INDIA A terrible calamity has befallen the people in state, the Uttar Pradesh. Floods have exceeded previous records and have devastated six million ae of land, affecting over eight million people Mau, a small town in the Azamgarh district, was one of the victims of these floods. But the people, two thirds of whom are weavers, fought back the danget under the leadership of the President of the Weavers Trade Union. They kept watch day and night, patrolled the banks and rescued people The most glorious part was’ played by the women anc children in saving the town and the larger hamlets around The people demolished the cottages on the outskirts of town so as to form a barricade. But the rains washed away the earth. Then the women and children came to the rescue; they collected mats, carpets, clothes, rags and almost everything they could lay their hands on and heaped them on the dyke. Thus the dyke held and Mau was saved The rescued people are now in camps and are in great need of clothes, soap, medicines, etc. We of the Federation have already sent milk powder, soap and clothing. We hope soon to send a contingent of doctors vith some medicines to that area. Any help is welcome at such a time, and to know that our sisters in far-off lands are with us will be a very heartening thought to our women and children You could write to Sri. Jharkhande Rai, President, People’s Relief Committee, Kisan Office, Balal Ghat Road, Azamgarh, U.P. directly or to our Federation Office at New Delhi National Federation of Indian Women, 10 B, Asaf Ali Road, Kamla Market, New Delhi, India Hajrah Begum ARGENTINA The delegates came back enthusiastic about the Congress, and those who went on to Rumania were enchanted by the reception they were given and carried away by all they had seen. They brought back a whole exhibition of handwork presented by the women Rumania to the Union of Argentine Women. Later they appointed a special commission to prepare an exhibition in the capital as well as in several provincial cities. The handwork will be exhibited along with photos showing the life of women and children and the building up of the country. The delegates will give talks describing all that has been done for women and children. And this is still very little in comparison with the reception they were given On the subject of the journal of the Union of Argentine Women, “Our Women” (Nuestras Mujeres), which was publishing fifteen thousand copies per issue in April, the letter says “20,000 copies of the last number of ‘Nuestras Mujeres’ were sold, 5,000 on news-stands. For the next number we will print 25,000 copies, because the door-to-door sales are having such extraordinary success. For eximple, recently, 200 copies were sold in a single day by this method in Avellaneda, forty at the gates of a meat refrigeration plant. Even women who do not belong to our organization ask for copies to sell. The number of our co-workers is growing; we are trying to improve the presentation of the magazine by printing it in and increasing the number of pages. We are all 1 by this success, which shows the devotion colour very please< of the women to the only women’s magazine which tells the truth.” LD 21